Broken
Film Movement | Release Date: July 19, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
53
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
12
Negative:
2
Watch Now
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
The A.V. ClubNick SchagerJul 17, 2013
Doggedly manipulative and yet consistently affecting, Broken piles on the miserablism to almost unbearable effect. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineChuck BowenJul 14, 2013
It's the rare coming-of-age narrative that manages to respect the tricky ambiguities of shifting perceptions. Read full review
70
The DissolveMike D'AngeloJul 17, 2013
Broken may someday be remembered only as a minor footnote in Norris’ career, but it’s already a career worth following. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinJul 15, 2013
Rufus Norris’s debut film, Broken, is a fractured, tonally scrambled British coming-of-age movie with flashes of greatness and an intensely felt performance by a young actress named Eloise Laurence. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comBen KenigsbergJul 19, 2013
An absorbing coming-of-age drama that suddenly, pointlessly self-destructs with an onslaught of cheap ironies and overkill. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanJul 18, 2013
There’s little doubt that the obvious parallels between this dark coming-of-age drama and “To Kill a Mockingbird” are deliberate. But while they are undeniably overreaching, director Rufus Norris has adapted Daniel Clay’s young adult novel with a sensitivity that will appeal to teens and adults alike. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesMark OlsenJul 18, 2013
Solidly done if somewhat unremarkable, there is nothing particularly wrong with "Broken," nothing that needs fixing exactly, and yet it never fully comes together. Read full review
60
Time OutSam AdamsJul 16, 2013
The first feature from British theater director Rufus Norris deftly mixes gritty realism and lyrical impressionism, though its five-car pileup of a climax ultimately makes the film feel less a Greek tragedy than a miniseries in miniature. Read full review
60
Time Out LondonDave CalhounJul 14, 2013
If its script is a little unwieldy and overwrought at times, Broken is still a work of delightful moments and strong promise for many of those involved. Norris works hard to inject some joy and wonder into what could easily be a much more dark and miserable experience. Read full review
60
Total FilmNeil SmithJul 14, 2013
Believably charts a girl’s coming of age but is eventually capsized by lurid melodrama. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyJul 14, 2013
There are simply too many characters jostling for attention and too many competing plot strands in a not-quite-seamless marriage of hard-edged social realism with a lyrical novelistic overlay. That said, the film is rich in poignant moments and negotiates its frequent shifts from violence to gentleness to sorrow with sensitivity. Read full review
50
New York PostLou LumenickJul 18, 2013
A couple of heavyweight actors — Tim Roth and Cillian Murphy — get top billing, but this British drama belongs to young Eloise Laurence, memorable as Skunk, the diabetic daughter of Roth’s kindly solicitor. Read full review
50
The New York TimesStephen HoldenJul 18, 2013
At a certain point, Mr. Norris forsakes realism for theatricalized fantasy, and Broken ultimately loses its stylistic cohesion, if not its humanity. Read full review
50
Village VoiceInkoo KangJul 16, 2013
Unfortunately, Broken lives up to its mawkish title, and the slice-of-life tragedies of the film's first half devolve into manipulative melodrama in the latter part. When society breaks, the spell does, too. Read full review
50
VarietyCharles GrantJul 14, 2013
Norris’ film does find a beating heart, if not exactly a focus, in the tender father-daughter relationship between Archie and Skunk, nicely underplayed by Roth and Laurence. Read full review
40
The TelegraphDavid GrittenJul 14, 2013
Norris and his director of photography Rob Hardy have shot it with stylish confidence, but Mark O’Rowe’s script (adapted from Daniel Clay’s novel) feels cramped and over-schematic. Read full review
40
The GuardianPeter BradshawJul 14, 2013
There are some good ideas, strong moments and a blue-chip cast in Broken, the feature-film debut from award-winning theatre and opera director Rufus Norris. But they somehow don't come together successfully. Read full review
25
The PlaylistKevin JagernauthJul 18, 2013
Broken simply can't get it together on any level, delivering a tedious drama, that for all the characters and over-emoting, doesn't have much to say. Read full review
25
ObserverRex ReedJul 16, 2013
Awkward music cues and choppy camera work add baggage to a film so overwrought that its excesses seem more unintentionally silly than bleakly disturbing. Read full review
More From This Movie

53 Critic Reviews

7.3 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL